When you think of emergencies, you think about who is going to come and help you.

The first responders are important, but without the people behind the scenes dispatching first responders, you may never get the help you need in that moment.

Last week, the Carbon County commissioners recognized the dispatchers at the 911 Communications Center by signing a proclamation naming April 13-19 National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week in Carbon County.

The proclamation states that “each day, more than a half million public safety telecommunicators answer desperate calls for help, responding with services that saves the lives and property of citizens in need of assistance.”

These men and women who serve as dispatchers in Carbon County are the “first and most critical contact our citizens and visitors have with emergency services” and the work they do “is invaluable in emergency situations.”

Gary Williams, 911 director, accepted the proclamation and said that the dispatchers provide “lifesaving instructions to our callers, coordinate resources to incidents and they ensure the safety of our first responders.”

“We have a good bunch of people up there,” he said.

Williams added that last year, the 11 full-time and three part-time dispatchers handled over 121,000 calls that came through 911.

Commissioner Wayne Nothstein pointed out that dispatchers handle a variety of emergency calls — from fires and crashes to overdoses, lost hikers and even delivering babies — and those taking the calls need to be trained to handle any situation that comes up.